Almost anybody who keeps track of the tech press will agree Windows Vista has an awful reputation. Is that reputation justified, though? News.com reports that Microsoft has carried out an interesting experiment to answer that question.

In short, the experiment involved rounding up Windows XP users skeptical of Vista's merits, asking them to explain their dislike for Vista, then showing them a "new" operating system code-named Mojave. News.com says "more than 90 percent" of the users had a positive impression of this new OS. One user even uttered, "Oh wow," the slogan from the ill-fated Vista marketing campaign. But here's the twist: Microsoft was actually demonstrating Vista.

If you think that all sounds a little too convenient, you're not the only one. Considering the sheer amount of negative press Vista has garnered, though, the OS's image problem could very well be that bad. Microsoft plans to release footage of the experiment in some form or other so we can see for ourselves—in fact, News.com predicts the footage could show up publicly "as soon as next week or even at Thursday's financial analyst meeting."